Printing plate



Dec. 11 1923 F. DE MINICO PRINTING PLATE Filed Aug. 30. 1922 Jim/anion Trcuikflelfinico;

W mm.

Patented Dec. 11, 1923.

uni-T no STATES.

1,476,803 arana? mm m a man..- OENEW .e sl aw w B L B TALLING-M NQ M? meme co umn. r Ew .v aa-. nCQB IQ QMIE -XQ K em as a ss- A l eation filcdAugust 30, 1922. Serial lll'o. 585,128.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known'that I, FliAN-KDE -M1NIoo, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, borough of Bronx, in thecounty of Bronx and State of-New-York,

have invented certain new and useful -Improvements in Printing-Plates, of whichthe following is a. specification.

This invention relatesl to printing plates 18 andparticularly to such plates asareemade ofthin sheetmetal adaptedfor having embossed thereon letters or symbols, andfwhich are provided with meansfor' articulation improvements is to provide a printing plate of the character specified, simple 111' construction, durable 1n, use and having 1 lIltfiIY- locking features of'security andLease.of"assemblage for articulationwith others of its kind.

With these ends in View my improvements comprise featuresxillustrated,in their preferred embodiment in the drawing accompanying this specification wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view; of. my improved printing plate. 'Fig. 2- isa section online 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 isa perspective View similar to that of Fig. 1 and showing some f eatures of inodifica'tion. Fig. lfisf'a; section on so line 4 4; of-'Fig.- 3. Fig 5 is; aperspective view similar to those'ofFigures 1 and 3 and showingfurthermodifications. Fig. 6

is asection online 66 of Fig. 5. Fig.7 is a. perspective view showing the assem- Fig. 1. Fig.8 isa'sim-ilar View to tliatpof Fig. 7 showingtheassembling of two' plates such as.- that shown in Fig.3. Fig' 9is, a

view similar to those of Figs. 7 "and 8 -show ing the; assembling of two plateasuch as I that shownin'Fi 5. Fig. 10 jsa section on line 10-10 of -ig'. 6. Fig; 11' is a frag mentary section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1 but showing a portion of a second plate in articulated relation therewith.

Plates of-this general character may; be found illustrated and described in U. S; Patent No. 866,863 a to Hopkins, granted Sept." 24,- 1907 and in 8. Patent No. 866,928 of -Sept. 24, 1907 toGrieser. The present invention is'in the nature of improvements in the plates shownin said patents. My improvements are particularly directed to the hinge portions of suchfplates with afviewto add strength-thereto to inbling of two plates such as thatshown ,in

separated from one another-when occasion requires. herein.

ln -thevery nature of plates of the character of those specified, it is necessary that thin and rather soft metal be employed so that the lettering or symbols maybe em- -Other features will appear later bossed readily thereonf Heretofore it has 65 been convenient and customary to make the pin-ties which form one member of the jhinge of the same thickness as the body of into a continuous chain. The object of mythe plate. This necessarily resulted in a rather frail pintle which was liable to be bent or broken off in use. The present invention is directed among other objects to providing strong pintles, bymaking them of a double thickness'of metal.

Directing attention now more particularly 7 to the drawing, in Fig. 1 thereof, body 3 of the plate preferably hason one lengthwise edge a narrow upstanding strengthening flange 5, from which project in substantial parallelism with the body of the plate one or more outstanding ears, as 7. Said ear comprises pintle portion 9 which is joinedv to said plate body 3, or itsflange 5, by a relatively short neck 8, which allowssaid pintle portion to project in both directions lengthwise said plate, beyond said neck, thereby providing 'pintles 9' and 9. For strengthening said pintle portion the body thereof isfolded over on itself, whereby a double thickness of metal is provided pref erablythroughoutits length. Very strong plntles 9 and 9 are thus provided, which will stand indefinite interlocking with their" coacting hinge memberswithout bending or breaking.

On that edge of said plate opposite said pintle' members, and in parallelism therewith the metal of the plate is rolledv over to br ng the edge of the plate'preferably close to or into contact With-"the body of the plate, 109

thus forming a hollow-approximately cylindrical rib 10. At that portion-of saidrib opposite pintle member 7 said rib is cut-away at 11 to provide an opening for the entry of said pintle member. The major portion of 0 said opening between the adjacent ends of rib portions 10 and 10 is slightly longer than the length of neck 8 and; foradmitting pintle 9 within the cylindrical opening-in rib portion 10% said rolled over portion iisill notchedkout at that edge thereof adjacent the body of the plate and adjacent opening 11.

notched at 13 for admitting pintle 9 This forms a gateway 12 for the entrance of pintle 9.. That end of cylindrical rib portion 10 "facing opening 11 is similarly For similarly admitting thev other pintle member, opening 11 opposite thereto is provided and the adjacent ends of rib members 10 and 10 are notched'similarly to the adjacent ends of rib members 10 and 10.

Two plates of the character described may be hinged together as shown in Fig. 7 wherein the plates are laid face to face with their ends in the same planes respectively and with the pintle members of one facing the openings between the rib members of the other. The pintles will there be seen entering. the notches respectively in the rib mem bers and after being pushed therethrough into the hollow portion of the rib members, the front edge of the upper plate may be lifted and the plate rotated on its pintles in interlocking relatiton with the under late. 7 p Heretofore it has beencustomary in rolling over the edge of the plate to provide seats for the pintles, to leave a lengthwise space between the rolled over edge of the sheet and the body of the sheet for the entry of said pintles into engaging position with the interior of the rib portions. The practice set forth in the present application is an improvement over that earlier practice in that as the plate edge is rolled over into contactwith thebody of the plate the cylindrical formation can be attained with greater accuracy and uniformity from one plate to another, than if a material space is left between said edge and body. Variation in thickness of metal and in the hardness thereof contribute to variable results in rolling over if-the ed e of the plate is not forced against the b0 y. 7 V

In the modification of Figures 3 and 4 Y notch 12 of Fig. 1 has been omitted, which results in a different 'mode of assembling two plates, and which mode will be described presentl herein. A further feature of difference between the plate of Fig. 3 and that of Fig. 1 lies'in the form of the neck which connects body 3 of the plate or flange 5 thereof, with pintle portion 9. In said 1nodi fication neck 8 has a'lengthwise rib formed therein, in cross section see Fig. 4, preferably of U shape and preferably the U is reversed. The object of this rib is to shorten the distance between flange 5 andsaid pintle portion, thereby closing up to some extent the space between the pintles 9 9 and said flange 5. The object of said closing up will be understood by reference to Fig. 11, wherein is shown thepintle portion of the plate of Figuresl and 2 interlocked with the rib edge of a similar plate. Therein plate a has been pushed toward and over plate 1), whereby the pintle portion 9 projects out wardly to the right from notch 13. This prevents plate a from folding downwardly farther than shown. In some cases further folding down is desirable and which folding down may be accomplished by withdrawing plate a slightly to the left, when the pintles will engage the inside of the cylindrical rib and permit such further folding. By closing up the space between the pintles and rib 5 as shown in Figures 3 and 4 the tendency of the pintle portion to misplacement such as shown in Figure 11 is overcome.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that this general result might be :uzconiplished by increasing the diameter of rib 10 or by punching a narrower opening between flange 5 and pintles 9 and 9". The first of these is objectionable in that it would prevent the interchange of such a plate with those now in use which amount to many millions. The second of these is objeetion able because the cutting blade of a punch to punch out so small a space as that between the flange and pintle of the plate of F igurcs 3 and 4 would be 50 frail as to be highly liable to destruction in makin these plates in quantity, while the punch for the space bctween the flange and pintle of the plate of Figures 1 and 2 is much thicker and stronger and is serviceable for quantity production.

Referring now to Figure 8 the method of assembling two plates such as shown in the modification of Figures 3 and 4 is there illus trated. Therein the upper plate is skewed slightly relatively to the lower plate and pintle 9 is slid endwise to the left into the inner end of hollow cylindrical rib 10 then the right hand portion of the upper plate is swung into parallelism with the lower plate, when the other pintles will pass through the respective notches of the rib portions and interlock within said rib portions. This modification is in some cases preferable to the showing of Figs. 1 and 2 in that plates of this modified form cannot be separated by withdrawal in parallelism! as with said plates of Figs. 1 and 2, as shown in Fig. 7.

In the modification of Figures 5 and 6 the notch is omitted from rib portion 10 and the notches in rib portions 10 and 10 are about twice as long as those in the plates of Figures 1 and 3. That is those notches are each slightly more than the combined lengthof two pintles. In accordance with this" modification two plates are assembled by placing the upper plate slightly offset to the right, on the lower plate, so that not only the pintle as 9 but an equal length therewith of the pintle body portion 9 enter the corresponding notch as 14, Fig. 9. This permits the opposite pintles respectively to pass by those ends of the rib portions which have ihOF-{HQtChQS :T'hen when :said pintle portions-have been fully gentered into line with the "interio of said rib-portions, the upper plate is.- slid endwise togthe left wherebyw-the left-hand :pintles respectively enter theiricorresponding rib portionsof the eunder iplate. The free edge of the upper plate is then -raisedand the plate folded over into the plane of .the lower plate thus completing the assembly.

=1n-some cases. in (assembling and vdisassemaibling theiplates othereis a tendency for the xas 14, engagingneck 8. To prevent this Iprovide a stop against such endwise movement. Arconvenientidevice to this end comprises a lip 15 turned inwardly from rthe lower edge portion'ofthe vrib, was 10, Figures 1, 5, 6 and 10. This turned-ihportion canbe conveniently formed .of that portion of the cornerof the rolled over portion which would otherwise-becut away-to form notch 14.

I claim: V 1. In a printing plate of sheet metal adapted for articulation with others ofits one -.edge ,thereof .an outstanding ear comprising pintle portion and a ,neckportion,

said pintle portion including "opposite pintles pro ecting in opposite directions beyond said neck port on and saldzneok ,portion having a lengthwise rib formeditherein for bringing said pintle portion and said body closer together. Q

2. In a printing plate of sheet metal adapted for articulation with others of its kind the combination of a body having on one edge thereof an outstanding ear comprising a vpintle portion and a neck portion, said pintle portion including opposite pintles projecting in opposite directions beyond said neck portion and said pintle portion being formed of two thicknesses of said sheet metal.

3. In a printing plate of sheet metal adapted for articulation with others of its kind the combination of a body having on one edge thereof an outstanding ear comprising apintle portion and a neck portion, said pintle portion including opposite pintles projecting in opposite direction beyond said neck portion, said neck portion having a lengthwise rib formed therein for bringing said pintle portion and said body closer together and said pintle portion being formed of two thicknesses of said sheet metal.

4. In a printing plate of sheet metal.

adapted for-articulation with others of its kind the combination of a body having on one edge thereof an outstanding ear comsaid neck portion,.-said neck portion having a lengthwise rib ffor-med ztherein foribringing said pintle portion and saidrhody closer together and said "pintle portion being ,folded over :upon itself whereby a. dO'llbleYtlllC-kDQSS of -metal ,is;provided therein.

;.5. In a printing plate of asheetlmetal adapted for articulation with others .of its kind the ,combinationo'f a body-havingon one edge thereof an --outstanding,ear comprising a pintle portion' andrarneck portion, sa1d.,pintle, 'port1on including opposite pintlesprojecting ,in opposite directions sbeyond said :neck portion-, -said body ha-vingiformed on that edge thereof opposite..said ;-pintle portion and in parallelism therewith a plurality of rolledover hollowribs, said .ribs being spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the length of said fneckvportion and-one ofsaid ribs having anotch in that end thereof facing the other crib/and fadjacent the body of the plate. for the passage therethrough of one of {said pintles.

.6. In a printing plate of sheet metal adaptedfor articulation with others of its kindthe combination of a bodyhaving on kind the combination .of a body having'ion oneedge thereof an outstanding sear comprising a pintle v,port-ion and a .neck portion, said pintle pintles projecting-r in opposite. directions beyond said neck portion,- said'body having formed on that edge thereof opposite said pintle portion and in parallelism therewith a plurality of rolled over hollow ribs, the edges of said rolled'over rib Joortionslying close to the body of the plate, said ribs being spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the length of said neck portion and one of said ribs having a notch in that end thereof facing the other rib and adjacent the body of the plate for the passage therethrough of one of said pintles.

7. In a printing plate of sheet metal adapted for'articulation with others of its kind the combination of a body having on one edge thereof an outstanding ear comprising a, pintle portion and a neck portion, said pintle lportion including opposite pintles.

projecting in opposite directions beyond said 7 said pintles.

8. In a printing plate of sheet metal adaptportion including opposite- 'ed for articulation with others of its kind the combination of a body having on one edge thereofan outstanding ear comprising that ed'ge thereof opposite said pintle portion 7 and in parallelism therewith a plurality of the 'pintle therein.

rolled over hollowribs, said ribs being spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the Vlengthof saidneck portion, one of said ribs havinga notch in that end thereof' facing the other rib and adjacent the body of the plate for the'passage therethrough of one of said pin'tles' and a stop therein adjacent its notchforlimitlng the en'dwise movement of 9. Ina printing plate of sheet metal adapted forarticulation with others of its kind the'combination of a body havi'ng on one edge thereof an outstandingear comprising a pintle portion a'nd'a neck portion "said J'intle' ortion inoludin oaaosite ointles e a: l l.

' projecting fin opposite directions beyond said neck portlon, sald body having formed on that edge thereof opposite said pintle portion and in'parallelism therewith a plurality of rolled over hollow ribs, said ribs being spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the length of said neck portion, one of said ribs having a notch in that end thereof facing the other rib and adj acent; the body of the plate for the passage therethrough'of one of said pintles and a portion of the metal of said rib being turned inwardly at the base of? said notch as a stop forlimit-ing the endwise movement ofthe pintlein said rib.

10. In a printing plate of sheet metal adapted for articulation with others of its kind the combination of a body having on one edge thereof an outstanding car comprising a pint'le. portion and a. neck portion. said pintle portion including opposite pintles projecting in opposite directions beyond said neck portion, said body having formed on that edge thereof opposite said pint-lo portion and in parallelism therewith a plurality of. rolled over hollow ribs, said ribs being spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the length of said neck portion, and said ribs having notches in their infacing ends adjacent the body of the plate for the passage therethrough of said pintles respectively.

'11. In a printing plate of sheet metal adapted for articulation with others of its kind the combination of a body having on one edge thereof an outstamling car comprising a pintle portion and. a neck portion, said pintleportion including opposite pintles projecting in opposite directions beyond sail-l neck portion, said body having formed on that edge thereof opposite said. pintle portion and in parallelism therewith a plurality of rolled over hollow ribs, said. ribs being 7 spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the length of said neck portion, said ribs having notches in their infacing ends adjacent the body of the plate for the pamage therethrough of said pintles respevtively and one of said ribs having a stop therein adjacent its notch for limiting the endwise movement ofthe pintle therein.

In witness whereof, I hereby ailix my signature this 28th day of August, 1922. FRANK DE MINICO. 

